The future?
For 2006, I have a few new ideas up my sleeve. I'm planning to use some more new locations (Quantocks/Mendips in Somerset, Chilterns in Bedfordshire, Thetford Forest in Norfolk, Calderdale in West Yorkshire and the Black Mountains/Brecon Beacons in South Wales).
As yet there are no firm dates but I'm hoping to be in the UK more later this year, so watch this space.
New Ideas
I'm planning to introduce a few new ideas (mostly suggested by you):
a) Feedback questionnaires So that you can tell us what things we are doing right and what things we need to improve
b) No hassle weekends Where the price includes accommodation as well as guiding/instruction so that all you have to do is turn up and ride
c) Customer details forms So that we have an emergency contact number (other than your mobile phone) should we need it
Feedback
If there are any weekends that you would like me to run i.e. bike maintenance, race training or road riding, or you would like a tailor made weekend for you and some friends, or if you have any comments on what we've done or where we're going next, then drop me a line at Feedback@Cloud9trails.com
The small print
Weekends cost £60 per person. This charge covers all tuition/instruction and guiding, as well as first aid, emergency and mechanical cover. This cost doesn't include accommodation or meals. We can give advice on good local accommodation, or you can try your luck yourself.
Groups will be limited to a maximum size of 16 people. Places will be allocated on a first come basis and will be reserved upon receipt of a deposit of £10. The group size is limited in order to allow sensible client/guide ratios and to ensure that clients get the best deal in terms of tuition/instruction of skills and techniques.
Up to four guides (dependent on group size) will accompany the group, and it may be possible to split into two smaller groups of differing abilities, if numbers make this feasible.
Guiding or Tuition?
The Cloud9Trail weekends are graded, both by level of difficulty and according to whether they are predominantly Guided Rides (where you get to ride all of our favourite trails, learn some new routes and maybe visit some new bits of the country) or Tuition based (where the emphasis is on skills tuition, rather than long guided rides)
Level of Difficulty
The Cloud9Trail Tuition Weekends are graded by difficulty into three categories:
Beginner - For those new to mountain biking. Suitable for people with good basic cycling fitness, but who wish to improve their confidence and skill level. Weekends graded at beginner level would cover techniques such as the correct use of gears and brakes, consider basic set up of your bike, and will cover trail skills such as cornering, climbing and descending. Tips on improving fitness, diet and buying/upgrading mountain biking gear and equipment will all be included.
Intermediate - For those people who can and do mountain bike already, but who want to improve existing skills and learn some new ones too. Weekends graded at Intermediate level would attempt to build on existing skills and will include a brief assessment of everyone's skill level with pointers for areas to consider practising and improving. Intermediate graded weekends would look initially at basic skills, but then move on to subjects such as efficient use of gears and brakes, use of front and full suspension set-ups, and will cover trail skills such as steep climbing and descending, riding singletrack and dealing with obstacles such as mud, roots and rocks.
Expert - For confident bikers who want to push their riding limits. Weekends graded at Expert level would attempt to push the boundaries a little! Ideal for those riders who want to get into MTB racing, whether it is traditional XC events or the new type of endurance or marathon events (such as the Red Bull 24hr or the Newnham 90). These weekends would consider the benefits of different suspension set-ups, look at the various braking systems, and will cover advanced trail technique such as rut riding, drop-ins, low and high speed cornering techniques, technical singletrack, drop-offs and XC based jumping.
The Cloud9Trail Guided Ride Weekends are also graded using the same three categories. Although these weekends are predominantly about riding, the basic skills needed to ride the trails are roughly those taught in the relevant Tuition Weekend grade. Obviously, we can show you how to ride certain problem sections on Ride weekends too, but you do need a basic grasp of the relevant skills in order to get the most out of your ride.